milkly sludge at radiator cap E46 328i

[zamzainal]

hi guys,I got this problem, and need your advice on this,My bro's ride 328 E46 got a milky whitish sludge (att pix) at the radiator cap,some 'pomen' suggest its maybe head warp bengkok already,but when i check the oil dip stick theres no sign of water, the water temp also look normal, not an inch increase! No power loss, coolant loss...Is it really head 'bengkok' ?The reddish color at the oil cap & the tank is the coolant red color.A 2nd 'pomen' suggesting changing the PCV oil separator & oil separator valvecost around RM 300 icl labour la..Do i have to do the compression test first? If so wheres the best shop to do?Please help,Thank You All...

 

[jarance]

Your coolant have expired. It has reacted with the engine block. The whitish material is the oxidised compound.

you need to drain and flush the radiator and the engine block to clear the oxidation. change the thermostat too located below the expansion tank as it will most probably is jammed due to the whitish stuff.

BTW, use back original coolant by BMW. It blueish in colour available in white bottle.

 

[zamzainal]

Hi Jarance,
Thanks for the prompt reply,..

I'll try what you suggesting first, then i'll post it for any dev.
Btw, how much is the original BMW thermostat?

 

[zamzainal]

Forgot to ask bro..
Btw where does the oily sludge came from? Could not be from the expired coolant?

 

[jarance]

when was the last time you change the oil?

i.e. what is the interval?

 

[jarance]

Hi Jarance,
Thanks for the prompt reply,..

I'll try what you suggesting first, then i'll post it for any dev.
Btw, how much is the original BMW thermostat?

try to do a search on the E46 thread "Parts and Maintenance" for the price of the thermostat.

 

[fabianyee]

is the trans oil cooler integrated into the radiator???

 

[zamzainal]

hi jarance, fabianyee..

the car were just serviced recently,. about a week ago, the auto oil, engine oil and the coolant were
replaced..strange tough the oil dip stick clean without any trace of water leak.

i also wanna know if the trans oil intergrated to radiator like most japanese cars that i knew.

 

[kayz]

Hi Jarance,
Thanks for the prompt reply,..

I'll try what you suggesting first, then i'll post it for any dev.
Btw, how much is the original BMW thermostat?

Just change mine............................RM 250 incl upah

 

[zeedo]

hi jarance, fabianyee..

the car were just serviced recently,. about a week ago, the auto oil, engine oil and the coolant were
replaced..strange tough the oil dip stick clean without any trace of water leak.

i also wanna know if the trans oil intergrated to radiator like most japanese cars that i knew.

For N42 E46, the g/box oil cooler draws the coolant from the main radiator system but has its own heat exchanger (looks like as small box) just on the left of the engine bay when standing facing the front of the car. Never experience any cross contamination between the coolant and the g/box oil but it happened to my friend E200 year 2000. Might worth checking it...

 

[zamzainal]

Yup Zeedo,
You're absolutely right!

The main culprit is the oil seal of the oil cooler from the gear box to the so call heat exchanger, the oil seal cost only RM 80, but the labour quite extensive since the whole system have to be drainage and flush, and not to mention the new gear oil, gasket, seal and coolant.

Btw, i come across this posting BMWClubMalaysia.com Forums > The BMW Range > 3 Series > E46
water spare tank, posted by machaplai 6-28-2009

" problem just solved yesterday....cost me rm1965...i changed radiotor cooler,automatic oil cooler,termostat,gearbox flush,etc.........god damm coz ATF mix with water oledi..flush gearbox use 14 bottle of atf...inside the radiator cooler also mix with atf....at tuesday i need to change the atf again.."

"Quote:Originally Posted by jinooi
erm, how did ATF (auto transmission fluid) get into you radiator?

the culprit should be the gearbox oil cooler when it leaked. it is recommended to change it around 80-90K. the gearbox oil is cool by running through the gearbox oil cooler interconnecting with the coolant (this is what the mechanic told me)"

reply by jarance

Quote:Originally Posted by jinooi
wait a minute...

but still this doesn't explain why the TS found ATF in his radiator coolant... not unless the tranny housing is cracked?

the ATF in the gearbox, is it for cooling or just lubrication only?

and when we install an transmission cooler, is it going to cool the ATF or the radiator coolant?

i'm getting a bit confused...

The ATF is for the hydraulic power for changing the automatic gears in the tranny. It is driven by a hydraulic pump in the gearbox. When ATF or oil is compress, it will generate heat hence you need to cool the ATF oil. The ATF oil is cool via 2 pipes which circulate the oil from the pump to the ATF cooler and back to the oil sump.

The radiator serve 2 functions.
1. To cool the engine via water/heat transfer
2. to cool the ATF.

Fuhhhh... at last, question all answered!

( Att diagram posted by Jarance)

 

[jarance]

A bit of research does help.. Sorry , forgot about that posting..

Sometime, we can only give advise if the question, trouble or symptoms are clearly spelled out..

Glad to know that you managed to resolve your problem which seem to be a fail oil seal. Oil seal will only failed due to aging or overheating. Overheating can only be caused by failed thermostat.

 

[zamzainal]

Bro Jarance,
Thanks to you too..and everyone who keep posting me to sort the prob...

Oil seal on any part of the E46 is the most overlook part that dismay us,..just imagine RM 80 could be somewhat RM 1600 ++ like our friend kena.. adoii..

Next step, i'll try to use the external oil cooler for both GB and engine, maybe an HKS,. just spend a bit
to save on the long term..

 

[jarance]

Bro Jarance,
Thanks to you too..and everyone who keep posting me to sort the prob...

Oil seal on any part of the E46 is the most overlook part that dismay us,..just imagine RM 80 could be somewhat RM 1600 ++ like our friend kena.. adoii..

Next step, i'll try to use the external oil cooler for both GB and engine, maybe an HKS,. just spend a bit
to save on the long term..

I think JohnJ have modified his to a cooler similar to E36 for his E46 as well.

 

[Dan08]

Yeap...u might wanna check out the trans oil...

 

[zamzainal]

yeah..JohnJ done that..and I think all E46 owner should do the same disregard the age of their ride.. Anyway its just a minimal cost.

Imagine if you driving it on hi speed and yet the coolant get in your GB! Haru biru bro.. The cost of GB and other things, not just burn your wallet but your life saving also..

My bro's car is a unique case since the car never been overheat or having major problem since he bought it 8 years ago..the service intervals is timely right, and never miss any... infact he found the problem just by an instinct during morning route to his office.

Theres no indicator of the said problem, and yet none been shown in the manuals.

Surprisingly, the report that i get from the workshop owner, 90% of it blamed either blown head gasket or cracked cylnder (block).

Its sound silly but when the workshop were telling you that the head/block is cracked, and your GB flooded with coolant . . you might get a mild STROKE!! heheheh

 

[zeedo]

It is just habit of some workshop to assume the worst case scenario to get the biggest bill to hand over to the customer. I found it very useful to know how the engine and other support system works to get the logic behind any of their proposed repair.

 

[zamzainal]

yup..thanks again zeedo...
I owe a Super Duper Teh Tarik Session! hehehe

 

[coffin]

For N42 E46, the g/box oil cooler draws the coolant from the main radiator system but has its own heat exchanger (looks like as small box) just on the left of the engine bay when standing facing the front of the car. Never experience any cross contamination between the coolant and the g/box oil but it happened to my friend E200 year 2000. Might worth checking it...

The small heat exchanger for gear box oil cooler. the cooler have lifespan if not mistaken it have to change otherwise it will leak and contaminate with gear box oil. My friend's E46 2.0 have this problem, that his gear box oil became Milky when his wanna change the oil.

 

[FIRZ67]

Mine is E90 N46 engine and I had mine changed 2 months ago after my radiator leaked. Change to a new radiator and after a week suddenly my gearshift become jerky and the mechanic found out that the ATF has contaminated with my radiator coolant due to the leakage form Heat exchanger.Lucky that the ATF flow into the coolant system and not vice versa due to high pressure from gearbox.Got to change the heat exchanger and cost me RM 1.3K and need to flush a radiator with a new coolant. The flushing need to be done few times to clear all the milky sludge that are still hiding in the radiator.Now I still havent put in the original BMW coolant since need to do a flushing every 2 weeks.